An Introduction to Adobe Illustrator
Tutor: Software tutor
Cost: $250.00 |
As its name implies, Adobe Illustrator is an illustrative
tool much used by graphic designers. If you want to create some
original art work, ready for incorporation into a document such
as those produced by software such as PageMaker, InDesign or
Microsoft Word or Project which will subsequently be printed at
high-quality output, Illustrator is the tool for you.
Many users, new to computers, try to use pixel based paint
programs to produce illustrations for their documents, mainly
because programs like Paintbrush and Paint come free with Windows
and no additional software needs to be purchased. Although
pixel-based drawing programs can indeed be used to create
graphics, images produced by these types of programs cannot be
scaled up and still retain high quality (resolution). A magnified
Paint image (a bitmap) will consist of individual 'blobs'.
Artwork produced in Illustrator does not suffer this limitation
because it is a vector based drawing program and the images
produced in Illustrator can be easily scaled up or down according
to need.
If you use Adobe InDesign
or PageMaker
for desk top publishing, Illustrator is a natural companion.
Images created in Illustrator can be 'dropped' directly into an
InDesign or PageMaker document, scaled up and down without loss
of resolution all without any need for file conversion.
Click here to play a sample instructional movie from
the course. It shows the brush palette being used. If the movie
plays successfully on your equipment and you hear sound, can
see the video, like what you see then please enrol by sending an
email to the address in the softwaretutor graphic at the top of
the page.
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Introduction (This module)
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Demonstrating the speed with which graphics an be
produced using Illustrator. Comparing vector drawing
and pixel based drawing, examining some typical
Illustrator drawings, downloading sample files,
advantages and disadvantages of Illustrator
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Overview
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We start Illustrator file, discuss the opening screen
and open a file - one of the sample files delivered
with Illustrator - the splash screen AI_SplashTryout.
Frames and images. We print the file and examine the
multiplicity of print options available. We place the
Illustrator document in an InDesign file and print
again. We develop a simple job - producing a complex
watermark for a catalogue. An Illustrator document is
created by importing a WMF image (of a map of
Australia) into the Illustrator
environment. Various Illustrator tools are then
used to modify the map, adding some colour to it and
changing its transparency. Finally some unique artwork
is created - a company logo - by adding some text
'floating' above the map. We apply some effects to the
text and reduce the transparency. As an extension
exercise, maps from several other countries are built
by importing data in DXF format into Illustrator rather
than using the WMF format.
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Interface 1
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Exploring the Illustrator drawing environment. Zones in
the work area. The imageable area, non printing areas,
the page edge and the scratch or pasteboard area. The
drawing name, the design window (and magnification
scale), colour environment (RGB and CYMK), zooming in
and out, drop down menus. Opening, closing and
combining palettes. The importance of the control
toolbox. Using function keys to activate palettes.
Macintosh vs. Windows environments. Floating and
combining palettes. The importance of the status line
and determining the function of a selected tool. The
artboard and currently configured printer. The
importance of configuring a PDFWriter. Tiling a design
when the printer is not large enough to print the whole
document.
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Interface 2
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A close look at the tools in the toolbox palette,
selecting tools. Changing the default (currently
selected) tool. The spiral and rectangular tools.
Foreground and background colours - the colour of the
stroke. Reversing foreground and background colours. A
detailed look at the zoom tool. The value of Control
and ALT keys in combination with the + and - keys. The
importance of positioning the mouse correctly. The Auto
Trace tool - creating vectors from a scanned image of
fossil shells. Object selection methods, combining the
lasso tool with the selection tool, the magic wand
tool, the pen tool - drag and click to create Bezier
curves, creating a logo (some sails) with the pen tool,
simplifying a path to smooth a shape, copying an
object, pasting the object, change the colour of an
object, change the stack order of objects. The text
tool, setting the font and text size; text along
a path. The line tool and associated tools nested
within it - spiral and grid. Applying a brush type to a
path. Simple shape symbols. Using the arrange option to
change the stacking order. Using the flare tool. A
sample project - frogs on the march - using the brush
tool. The pencil tool - editing pencil lines - applying
brushed to pencil lines. Mirror (reflect) and rotate
tools. Using the scale tool. Distorting entities -
shear, crystallize etc.
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Creating Illustrations with Simple Shapes
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Understanding colour spaces - the RGB and CYMK
environments. Some revision - drawing basic shapes with the line segment tool.
Using the ALT and SHIFT overrides with the line tool.
Entity properties. Interrogating the drawing database
to determine the length of lines. Creating shapes as standalone symbol entities
- rectangles, ellipses, stars etc. Applying a gradient
to a symbol and to a path entity (a tick mark).
Applying a swatch to an entity. Linear gradients vs. radial gradients. Adjusting a gradient.
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Using the line tool - a small project
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Creating a graphic of an Australian native Eucalypt
using the line tool. Manipulating layers in an
illustration. Using the symbol palette to spray
patterns into an image.
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Preliminaries
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Installing Illustrator. Setting some Illustrator
preferences - display resolution, units used, grid
spacing etc. Installing fonts in the Illustator
environment - serif and sans serif fonts, True Yype,
Open Type and Postscript fonts. Installing a graphic
tablet. Installing a PDF writer and the benefits of
using it.
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File Formats
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Using Illustrator to open files from foreign formats -
PCX, JPG, AI, WMF, TIFF etc.. Opening an AutoCAD
2000 DWG file containing a logo.
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Drawing paths
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A detailed look at drawing paths, using the pen tool to trace
around a scanned image of a tick mark to create a
closed path. Copying a path, changing the foreground
colour.
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Gradients
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Applying a gradient to a simple closed shape (a simple
tick mark). Linear gradients radial gradients.
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Applying and manipulating text
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An in-depth look at using text tools, using the type
palette, editing text. Creating a graphic for the
Office of Liquor and gambling. Specifying and applying
a text style.
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Case Study -Tour Guide Maps
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Creating maps of itinerary for travel groups ready for
incorporation into InDesign. A job for a wholesale tour
guide company. Using the layers palette. Controlling
layer visibility and transparency. Creating a new
layer, moving entities from one layer to another,
changing the stacking order of layers. Changing the
draw order of entities on a single layer.
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